Last week Bloomberg posted an op-ed from Steven Gerrard, a philosophy professor at Williams College who was disturbed by what he saw as the decline of free speech at that elite private college (#1, again, in this year’s U.S. News rankings). Even as I could empathize with some of his concerns, I found it an odd piece to … More Are Christian Colleges “Comfort” Colleges?
Now that I’ve met all of my fall classes at least once, I can start to think ahead to my chances to teach and speak off campus. Here’s what currently on my speaking schedule for 2019-2020: October 2, 2019 I’ll be flying out to San Diego to give a talk on the purpose of general … More My Speaking Schedule for 2019-2020
I’ve only been on the campus of Gordon College once — and given what that school announced yesterday, I’m not sure I’ll have much reason to come back. I visited the suburban Boston Christian college in 2012, when it hosted the biennial meeting of the Conference on Faith and History, the leading society of Christian … More The “Next Chapter” in Christian Liberal Arts Education
Earlier this month I had the honor of delivering the keynote address at the 2019 Twin Cities Undergraduate Theology Conference, a joint effort of four evangelical colleges: Bethel University, Crown College, North Central University, and the University of Northwestern St. Paul. I decided to use the occasion to think in public about another kind of … More A Sacramental Vision of the Liberal Arts
This week I recalled my late friend G.W. Carlson’s admiration for the Baptist activist Clarence Jordan, shared my friend Ruben Rivera’s passion for diversity and shalom, and talked about our favorite sports movies with my friends Sam Mulberry and Chris Moore. Elsewhere… • A reminder that Africa is fast becoming the home to the world’s … More That Was The Week That Was
This week I encouraged fellow scholars to “think in public,” reflected on why trust is so important to Christian higher education, and recorded a new podcast on the experience of student-athletes. Elsewhere… • I happened to be flying through Charlotte, North Carolina last week, and saw a big ad for the Billy Graham Library in … More That Was The Week That Was
In case you happen to be at or near the campus of Bethel University this morning, Sam Mulberry and I are going to give a talk in Bethel’s library at 11:15. While our presentation is ostensibly about how we’ve experimented with podcasts and blogs for the last thirteen years, I really mean to address some … More The Problem of Trust in Christian Higher Education
I like comedian John Mulaney a lot. Which must be welcome news to comedian John Mulaney, since he claims to need “everybody, all day long, to like me so much” in his popular Netflix special, Kid Gorgeous at Radio City. “It’s exhausting.” But also hilarious — even brilliant. Skip ahead to 7:21 in this Stephen … More “I paid $120,000… to accept a four-year degree in a language I already spoke”
Most of my energy this week went into starting spring classes, but we recorded a rather autobiographical episode of our new sports history podcast, I noted an unusual spate of news stories on Christian colleges, and I shared five books I’m hoping to read for Black History Month. Elsewhere… • Some more February reading recommendations … More That Was The Week That Was
As I look back over the last year — not just here at Pietist Schoolman, but in my posts at The Anxious Bench, various talks and sermons, and other projects — three themes clearly stand out: The Pietist Option in Practice In some ways, it felt like publishing my book with Mark Pattie last October would conclude … More 2018: That Was The Year That Was
The Pietist Schoolman 